Welcome to the Water Margin Podcast. This is episode 69. Last time, after killing his wife in a most gruesome fashion, Yang Xiong set out with his hetero life mate Shi Xiu and their new grave-robber buddy Shi (2) Qian (1) to join up with the outlaws of Liangshan. On their way, they stayed at an inn near a place called the Zhu (4) Family Manor. While there, Shi Qian decided to steal and cook the house rooster for dinner. Soon, though, the clerk at the inn discovered what happened, and he confronted the three men. “Sirs, how can you do this?!” he said. “How could you steal our rooster and eat it?!” “What?!” Shi Qian protested. “We bought this chicken on the way here. When the hell did we ever see your rooster?!” “Then what happened to my rooster?” “Got dragged off by a cat? Eaten by a weasel? Carried away by a hawk? How would I know?” Shi Qian scoffed. “The rooster was in a cage!” the incredulous clerk shouted. “If you didn’t steal it, who did?” Shi Xiu, trying to make peace and retain some right to call himself an honorable man, now intervened and said to the clerk, “Let’s not argue anymore. How much could it be worth? We’ll just pay you.” “That rooster heralds the dawn; our inn can’t do without it!” the clerk said. “Even if you gave me 10 taels of silver, it won’t be enough. I want you to return my rooster.” But now, Shi Xiu was getting pissed. “Who are you trying to fool? And if I don’t pay you? What then?!” The clerk chuckled and said, “Sirs, don’t be stirring up trouble here! This is not like other inns. We’ll arrest you, take you to our master’s house, and then they’ll turn you in as bandits from Liangshan for a reward.” If that was meant to quiet Shi Xiu, it had the exact opposite effect. “Well, turns out we ARE heroes from Liangshan!” he raged. “Let me see how you’re going to arrest us and claim a reward!” Yang Xiong was also getting angry, and he chimed in. “We were trying to be nice and compensate you. But even if we didn’t, how are you going to arrest us?” “Thief! Thief!” the clerk screamed when he saw things coming to a head. At that, four or five half-naked, stout men stomped in and charged toward Yang Xiong and company. But Shi Xiu needed just a few punches to knock them all down. The clerk was just about to scream some more, but Shi Qian gave him a hard slap across the face, leaving his cheek so swollen that he couldn’t make a sound. Meanwhile, the men that Shi Xiu had beaten up scrambled to their feet and fled out the back door. Great, so petty theft had just turned into aggravated assault. “Brothers, they must be going to get reinforcements,” Yang Xiong said. “Let’s finish our meal and leave!” So, I love that instead of leaving right away, they decided to stay and finish the food first. The three of them made quick work of the rice and chicken, and then they got their stuff and each took a long-handle broadsword from the weapons rack. But Shi Xiu wasn’t quite ready to leave yet. “A henchie is a henchie, we can’t let any of them off,” he said. He then grabbed a bundle of straws, lit them in the stove, and set the thatched building on fire. The wind was blowing, and within minutes, the inn was engulfed in flames. So now, petty theft had turned into aggravated assault plus arson. This was going well. While the inn burned, the three men stomped off along the main road. They traveled for a few hours, but suddenly saw countless torches approaching from in front and behind in the darkness. There were maybe 200 workhands shouting and chasing them. “Don’t panic; let’s take the backroads,” Shi Xiu said. “Wait!” Yang Xiong said. “Let’s kill whoever comes near, and wait until day break before we travel on.” Oh great! So now petty theft was turning into murder. Good going guys. Anyway, their pursuers were closing in by now, so Yang Xiong took the lead, with Shi Qian in the middle and Shi Xiu bringing up the rear. The first wave of workhands charged forward with spears and staffs, but before they knew it, Yang Xiong had already cut down six or seven of them. That sent the rest scurrying away, but Shi Xiu caught up to them and cut down another six or seven, which just seemed a little excessive. I mean, they were already running away. Word of this massacre quickly reached the rest of the workhands, and they figured that you know what, we can live without a rooster after all, so they all ran away. Yang Xiong and company now resumed their escape. But as they were walking down a back road, loud cries suddenly rose up again, and before they could react, from within the tall grass on both sides of the road, two long hooks poked out and grabbed hold of Shi Qian. Before he could struggle, he had been pulled into the grass and disappeared. Shi Xiu was just about to go after Shi Qian, but from behind came two more hooks aimed at him. Thankfully, Yang Xiong was quick with the broadsword and knocked the hooks away. He then poked his blade into the grass, and heard a painful cry, and then they heard men scurrying off. Having lost Shi Qian and surrounded by potential booby traps, Yang Xiong and Shi Xiu did not dare to linger, nor could they worry about their captured companion right now. Instead, they just searched frantically for a way out. In the distance, they saw countless torches, and there were no woods along the back roads for them to hide in. So they just kept running wherever the roads led, heading east all the while. Eventually, they managed to shake their pursuers. As dawn approached, Yang Xiong and Shi Xiu passed a village tavern and decided to go in for some refreshments and directions. They sat down and asked the waiter to bring out some wine while they cooked some rice. Just as they were about to eat, they saw a big man run in. He had a broad, square face, bright eyes, and a rough and ugly appearance. He wore a tea-brown robe, a head scarf, a white silk waist sash, and oiled leather boots. “His lordship wants those loads delivered to his manor right away,” he said to the tavern keeper. “It’s all been put on shoulder poles and will be delivered shortly,” the tavern keeper answered quickly. “Alright, make it quick,” the big man said as he turned to leave. As he passed Yang Xiong and Shi Xiu’s table, Yang Xiong looked up and recognized him. “My friend, what are you doing here? Did you not see me?” Yang Xiong called out in surprise. The big guy turned, looked at him, and immediately called out, “Benefactor! What brings you here?!” As he spoke, the man fell to his knees and kowtowed to Yang Xiong. Yang Xiong helped him up and introduced him to Shi Xiu. “This brother’s name is Du (4) Xing (1). Because he has a rough appearance, everyone calls him Demon Face. Last year he went to Jizhou (4,1) Prefecture to do some business. During a disagreement he killed a traveler in his group and was taken to court. I started talking to him and realized he knew a lot about fighting skills, so I saved him from his legal troubles. I didn’t expect to meet him here today.” Du Xing now asked Yang Xiong how he came to be here. Yang Xiong whispered in his ear, “I killed someone in Jizhou, and we’re on our way to join the bandits on Liangshan. Last night we stayed at the Zhu (4) Family Inn. One of my companions, Shi Qian, stole their rooster and we got into an argument with the clerk. In the heat of the moment, we burned their inn. The three of us were fleeing, but they caught up to us. We killed a few of them, but then they hooked Shi Qian and caught him. The two of us fled here and were just about to ask for directions. Who knew I would meet you.” Du Xing now said, “Benefactor, don’t [panic. I’ll get them to release Shi Qian back to you.” Hearing that, Yang Xiong asked Du Xing to join them for a drink and talk. As they sat down and drank, Du Xing said, “After I left Jizhou, thanks to your kindness, I ended up here. A local lord took a liking to me and took me into his home as a steward. And now, I am responsible for all his accounting. Since he trusts me so much, I haven’t thought about going back home.” “Who is this lord?” Yang Xiong asked. “So, in front of the Lone Dragon Ridge, there are three other ridges, each with a village on it,” Du Xing explained. “The one in the center is the Zhu Family Manor. On the west side sits the Hu (4) Family Manor. On the east side is the Li (3) Family Manor. Among them, these three villages total almost 20,000 troops.